A detective duo of apatite and zircon geochronology for East Avalonia, Johnston Complex, Wales

Abstract

The Johnston Complex represents a rare inlier of the Neoproterozoic basement of southern Britain and offers a window into the tectonomagmatic regime of East Avalonia during the assembly of Gondwana. This work presents in-situ zircon (U-Pb, Lu-Hf), apatite (U-Pb), and trace element chemistry for both minerals from the Complex. Zircon and apatite yield a coeval crystallisation age of 570 ± 3 Ma, and a minor antecrystic zircon core component is identified at 615 ± 11 Ma. Zircon Lu-Hf data imply a broadly chondritic source, comparable to Nd data from East Avalonia, and T DM 2 model ages of ca. 1.5 Ga indicate source extraction during the Mesoproterozoic. Zircon trace element chemistry is consistent with an ensialic calc-alkaline continental arc setting and demonstrates that magmatism was ongoing prior to terrane dispersal at 570 Ma. Apatite trace element chemistry implies a sedimentary component within the melt consistent with voluminous S-type granite production during the formation of Gondwana. The similarity of ɛHf and geochemistry between both zircon age populations suggest derivation from a uniform source that did not undergo significant modification between 615 – 570 Ma. Time-constrained apatite-zircon chemistry addresses complexities in dating S-type granitoids (zircon inheritance) and permits inferences on post-magmatic thermal histories. Supplementary material: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6484464